Tag: hard work

O always tells people if they want to lose weight just follow around Grandmaster Chan for one day. That is definitely one way to burn calories. A day in the life of Grandmaster Chan consists of waking up before the sun and working in the sun, often until it goes down. Grandmaster Chan enjoys his time in the garden and tending to his fish. Whenever he goes on vacation, one lucky person is given the task of watching over his fish and plants. No one wants this job. All will be going well, and then right before he is due home, suddenly a plant or worse, fish dies! It is a nerve racking time for us back home and we have been known to try and resuscitate fish! No CPR or anything, but we were taught to push the fish through the water, as it moves the water through the gills. We have saved a few this way.

Back to a day in the life of Grandmaster Chan.

He is a creature of habit. He wakes up goes to the Temple to bisan, and makes his breakfast. (usually oatmeal and coffee) While water is boiling or the oatmeal is cooking he will start clearing things around the kitchen. After his breakfast he starts his outdoor routine. If you have ever been around the Temple in the morning or mid day, you might catch him doing any of the following: building fences of bamboo, clearing leaves or garbage from the Temple grounds, planting new trees, or even on the roof clearing the gutters. I am not very happy about that one! Depending on what area needs his attention he makes his way there and never asks for help. As a matter of fact when you try to help it often ends up being a bit of a fight…and who wants to fight with a Grandmaster of kung fu? At that point just volunteer to take care of the fish.

A question I get asked a lot is: Does he still practice kung fu? And my answer: every day. Maybe I haven’t ‘seen’ him doing right hand stick or 36 hands this week, but I see him using a broom (stick) to sweep the floors everyday, and I watch in awe as he moves up and down in a squat or to a side to side while cooking, cleaning, chopping, or clearing the grass…just like a form. He is constantly moving, and constantly working…. working hard = kung fu.

When people ask me how long I have been teaching, and I say over 25 years, I often get a confused look. Perhaps because I look so young! ha. I wish!

I often think about age and experience and realize those two numbers represent entirely different things. Just because someone is ‘older’, doesn’t make them more experienced in things they haven’t practiced. Just because someone is ‘younger’, doesn’t mean they don’t have experience. Reading those lines back is confusing, but basically… you know, the old saying: don’t judge a book by its cover!

I have the perfect story for this that dates back to… oh maybe 18+ years ago. I was attending the Yee’s Hung Ga tournament in New York, and had brought my students with me. My friend was a male Sifu from Yee’s and we went to meet an uncle of one of my students. When we arrived, the uncle immediately ran over to my friend and shook his hand exclaiming how happy he was to meet his nephew’s Sifu. Embarrassed, my friend said, “No, no, I’m not his Sifu, she is his Sifu.” The uncle did a double take, because as you can imagine this was about 18 years ago, so I looked even younger (lament), and I was a she, not a he!

2017 Test Weekend – Lady Sifus2008 Test Weekend – Lady Sifus

I always laugh at these situations, and don’t get too offended, because this is the stereotype I have dealt with my whole life. I am really proud that in the Wah Lum system there are several female Sifus and a good number of female kung fu practitioners. My father is always really proud of this fact as well. *Girl power!*

Post instructor certification weekend, I’ve been doing a lot of ‘thinking about the old days’. Perhaps this is because I had 2 students from my earlier demo teams testing together this year. (Matthew Martin of Wah Lum of Raleigh and Hiep Dang of Wah Lum of Portland) It was a double take for me to watch them both testing together after all these years. This was Matt’s 3rd test and Hiep’s 1st test. I cannot believe how quickly time goes by. On top of it all, they were fight partners and teammates for a long time. I never imagined they would both be testing to become a Sifu and that they would even produce students of their own one day. As I don’t have biological children, I imagine this is what a parent feels like when their kids are all grown up! I’ve been through so much with these guys, been to their weddings, been through hard times… and now they have decided to follow the path of becoming a Sifu. They have chosen to propagate and share Wah Lum with others. I am proud.

I am really proud of the growth of the entire Orlando branch of the Wah Lum tree, the students that have studied with Sifu Tu Truong and I at the Temple. Antonio Guerrerio of Wah Lum of Brasil, who has been traveling back and forth to the Temple for the past 20 years. Torsten Landau of Wah Lum Germany, who has been spending his summer training with us for the past 9 years. Last but certainly not least, Oscar Agramonte, my husband who has taken the word partner to another level with being not only my husband, but my partner in Wah Lum. (not an easy task)

I look forward to watching them grow as instructors and meeting their students. I look at all the members of the Wah Lum family and am overwhelmed by the growth of this tree with so many branches. All from the seed that my father planted. He took the teachings of his Master and brought it to the USA to share with the world. I like to remind my students that they are part of something so much bigger than just the classroom they are standing in. Somewhere in the world there are others lining up to ‘bisan‘ and start their kung fu class just as they are. How cool is that?

Torsten, Matt, Hiep, Antonio

Want to learn more about our programs? Get a free report on the benefits of Wah Lum.